The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval to the negotiating stand of India at the 24th Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Katowice, Poland from 2-15 December 2018. This is in continuation to the earlier approval dated 28th November 2018.

The Indian delegation was led by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The key focus of meeting was to finalize guidelines for implementation of Paris Agreement in post 2020 period. India's approach was guided by principles and provisions of UNFCCC and Paris Agreement particularly the principles of Equity and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capability (CBPR-RC).

India reiterated its commitment to Paris Agreement and highlighted its leadership during the COP-24 by reuniting its promise to implement the Paris Agreement fully in a collective manner. In line with our traditional ethos of protecting environment, Government of India has taken several initiatives to address climate change concerns under the leadership of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and these initiatives reflect India's commitment towards climate action. The push for renewable energy leading to achieving about 74 GW of installed renewable energy capacity including about 24 GW from solar; leading the world in its pursuit of enhanced solar energy capacity through International Solar Alliance; energy efficiency measures arc some of the examples.

It is however important to ensure that the actions of developing countries are supported by sustained and adequate means of implementation including finance, capacity building and technological support by developed countries. The adopted guidance operationalises the obligation of developed countries in providing means of implementation to developing countries and requires developed countries to provide detailed information to bring clarity on projected levels of climate finance. Parties have also agreed to initiate the work on setting up the new collective finance goals post-2020 from the floor of US$ 100 billion.

Overall, India's long-term interests have been protected. India Has however expressed Us reservation on the Global Stocktake (GST) decision regarding the need for considerations of equity in output of GST process, which is an important part of GST process as per the mandate of Paris Agreement to ensure that vulnerabilities, problems and challenges of the poor and marginalised are addressed.